Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Hiking, Walking, Running, Orienteering and Geocaching => Topic started by: MG1 on April 06, 2010
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Hi Guys
I'm trying to start picking up bits of climbing gear. At the min i'm looking at the Karabiners but so far there are 3 different types. Could some one explain the different types for me.
Screw gate
Wire gate
straight gate biner.
Cheers ???
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabiner
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Basically (This is just what I've picked up while climbing)
Screw gates come in large (HMS) and smaller. The smaller ones are used for setting up belays So you have a piece of gear in the rock and a small screwgate on that with a sling or rope through it (x2 minimum). HMS's are used when the rope will be moving i.e when your belaying or using a munter hitch etc.
The wire and straight are pretty much the same thing. Usually used for clipping into the rope via a quickdraw, for racking gear on your harness. The wire was developed mainly for winter climbing as its less prone to freezing open but (apparently) its aslo easier to clip into in a hurry because the wire creates a flatter surface for the rope to sit on and is therefore less likely to roll off when you apply pressure to open the gate! I never noticed a difference, i still just brick it, close my eyes and wave it at the rope hoping I hear it click shut!
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twenty clicks beat me to it! Check out needle sports aswell they explain a good bit about kit.
http://www.needlesports.com/acatalog/Mail_Order_Karabiners_22.html (http://www.needlesports.com/acatalog/Mail_Order_Karabiners_22.html)
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Are wire gate as safe/strong as screwgate?
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their pretty much rated the same. anything from 20kn up to around 25/26kn. as a general rule try and use screwgates for safety and snap's for racking and quickdraws. If you lok at a crab you'll see its strength rating on the side something like 24kn closed 7kn open and 9kn cross loaded for example.